Hybrids take priority over performance for Toyota in the U.S.

[EJ25RUN]

It wasn't that long ago that Toyota stood for more than just reliable, appliance-like transport. With roots that include the delectable 2000GT, the Celica all-trac and three generations of both the Supra and MR2, Toyota had – until recently – carved out a nice niche for itself populated by enthusiasts looking for something outside the performance mainstream. But in the past six years, the Priusification of ToMoCo has created an automaker whose soul focus has shifted from creating compelling products to the automotive equivalent of Maytag or KitchenAid. According to Toyota Division General Manager Bob Carter, don't expect that concentration to change.

Carter told Automotive News that Toyota will put more of its efforts towards hybrid vehicles in the U.S., saying that Stateside consumers are more interested in "high-quality, fuel-efficient, low-impact-environment products." Carter went on to say that, "Personally, I would love to have a sporty car, but it is pretty clear what the market is looking for right now."

What that means for the Subaru/Toyota FR coupe's future in the U.S. remains to be seen, but it's doubtful that we'll be seeing a Supra successor in the near term. Ideally – or maybe more appropriately, idealistically – we could hope for something the melds both performance and green technology, like a production version of the FT-HS coupe concept that debuted in Detroit two years ago. But judging by the tone of the industry, and Carter in particular, we doubt that Toyota is ready to make that kind of segment-defying leap just yet. Maybe it'll take a hit from Honda to change Toyota's tune.

[EJ25RUN]

You know what that means?

GO KOREA!

[Alan®]

its a damn shame too. toyota made some of the best sports/sporty cars in the late 80's well into the 90's. the initial investment into making a new car i think is why they simply won't do it right now. the initial capital required in making a new car is something that they just cant spare right now and the performance sector of the market is not as strong as it used to be. if the wrx and other cars like it didnt 1.)have such a large fan following 2.)werent already in production before the economic down turn, I highly doubt we would have those right now either. Toyota will be out of this segment of the market until prolly the middle or end of the following decade. kinda sad when you think about it.

[RL...]

You know what that means?

GO KOREA!

x2 the genesis coupe is the first refreshingly new sports car/sports coupe that has come out in a while, and for a very reasonable price too. More companies need to take notice, this is how it should be done. rwd, 6 speed, turbo.

[EP3sAreFun]

I sure as hell hope that article is years old!!

Toyota is a business here to make money. If ppl want Hybrid then Toyota will poop out some Hybrids

by the way, the new Supra is already out. its called the IS-F!!

Hell, they also pulled the Diesel Tundra due to the fall of the American market.

[EJ25RUN]

I sure as hell hope that article is years old!!

Toyota is a business here to make money. If ppl want Hybrid then Toyota will poop out some Hybrids

by the way, the new Supra is already out. its called the IS-F!!

Article is 48 hours old.

Toyota should also realize there are people that dont want hybrids and make cars for them too.

Supra an IS-F. How is a 4 door sedan a Supra?

[Crazy Asian]

^Exactly. Honda and Toyota has it's root but it's so focused on being "environmental" that's its makes me sick. Jeez Hyundai has awesome car's that have great gas mileage and on top of that a car that smokes most of the competition.

Heck have you noticed this. You can buy an Accord or Nissan Altima Coupe but for what? Fat, ugly styling, FWD, no HIDS, build quality on the Accord sucks, $30,285 for the Altima Coupe V6 and $28,955 for the Accord V6(you can buy a base V6 Genesis for $27,000) both have less hp then Genesis Coupe, and on top of that none of them, and I mean none of them, have anything spectacular in those coupes. It's all plain jane crap shit. Toyota nothing in the US.

[HypnoToad]

the Lexus LF-A will be thier heavy hitter

[okra1981]

^Exactly. Honda and Toyota has it's root but it's so focused on being "environmental" that's its makes me sick. Jeez Hyundai has awesome car's that have great gas mileage and on top of that a car that smokes most of the competition.

Heck have you noticed this. You can buy an Accord or Nissan Altima Coupe but for what? Fat, ugly styling, FWD, no HIDS, build quality on the Accord sucks, $30,285 for the Altima Coupe V6 and $28,955 for the Accord V6(you can buy a base V6 Genesis for $27,000) both have less hp then Genesis Coupe, and on top of that none of them, and I mean none of them, have anything spectacular in those coupes. It's all plain jane crap shit. Toyota nothing in the US.

I would much rather have plain jane crap with a resale value and build quality than a Pacific Rim hunk of junk. It looks decent and puts down decent numbers, but the Genesis Coupe makes me vomit in my mouth when I think of it compared to a decent car company like Honda, Toyota, or Nissan. I think along the same lines as everyone who made fun of the SRT-4, it's a lot of fun and real cheap, but let's see how long it lasts. Korean cars are like the grapefruits of the Asian automobiles, their miserable, miserable manufacturers.
Jeremy Clarkson even said on Top Gear, the only decent Pacific Rim car you can get is the same price as an equivalent car made in Europe, so why not just by the European made car, the car being tested at that moment was a Hyundai, they then proceeded to laugh because they were unable to find a decent car out of 27 tested, all of them were Korean or Malaysian. What I'm getting at is, if you want a good car, why not buy a good car, I don't use disposable razors anymore, then why would I mess with a disposable car.

Sorry for the rant, I only do it when I talk about Korean cars and smelly candles, damn candles.

[Crazy Asian]

I would much rather have plain jane crap with a resale value and build quality than a Pacific Rim hunk of junk. It looks decent and puts down decent numbers, but the Genesis Coupe makes me vomit in my mouth when I think of it compared to a decent car company like Honda, Toyota, or Nissan. I think along the same lines as everyone who made fun of the SRT-4, it's a lot of fun and real cheap, but let's see how long it lasts. Korean cars are like the grapefruits of the Asian automobiles, their miserable, miserable manufacturers.
Jeremy Clarkson even said on Top Gear, the only decent Pacific Rim car you can get is the same price as an equivalent car made in Europe, so why not just by the European made car, the car being tested at that moment was a Hyundai, they then proceeded to laugh because they were unable to find a decent car out of 27 tested, all of them were Korean or Malaysian. What I'm getting at is, if you want a good car, why not buy a good car, I don't use disposable razors anymore, then why would I mess with a disposable car.

Sorry for the rant, I only do it when I talk about Korean cars and smelly candles, damn candles.

Do you know how many Accord are being brought back with issues and customer's actually selling them back because they have been fed up? Sorry but Honda's build quality is going down the drain for some odd reason. It's not the same as the 90's. I wish it was but when you buy a brand new car you'd expect the car to be quiet, not rattle, or squeak. Also, the 07-09 Toyota Camry's never got a consumer rating approval due to their V6 engine being shitty. Don't get me wrong, I drive a BMW for right now and that's not bad but seriously I want to try Hyundai. I've already test driven the sedan and that was amazing. And also for right now, I ain't rich. I wish but I'm not. And for $27,000 is my limit, this is a bargain for me. I'm not going back to used because f that. I don't want another used car only if it's for a project but I need a daily.

[nreggie454]

I would much rather have plain jane crap with a resale value and build quality than a Pacific Rim hunk of junk. It looks decent and puts down decent numbers, but the Genesis Coupe makes me vomit in my mouth when I think of it compared to a decent car company like Honda, Toyota, or Nissan. I think along the same lines as everyone who made fun of the SRT-4, it's a lot of fun and real cheap, but let's see how long it lasts. Korean cars are like the grapefruits of the Asian automobiles, their miserable, miserable manufacturers.
Jeremy Clarkson even said on Top Gear, the only decent Pacific Rim car you can get is the same price as an equivalent car made in Europe, so why not just by the European made car, the car being tested at that moment was a Hyundai, they then proceeded to laugh because they were unable to find a decent car out of 27 tested, all of them were Korean or Malaysian. What I'm getting at is, if you want a good car, why not buy a good car, I don't use disposable razors anymore, then why would I mess with a disposable car.

Sorry for the rant, I only do it when I talk about Korean cars and smelly candles, damn candles.

LOL. The cars they were testing were tiny econoboxes with tiny engines and cheapness in mind. The Genesis is a different car with a very promising platform. Hyundai is on the up and up. Nissan has always had shitty electronics, Toyota is shooting themselves in the foot by going all hybrid, and according to Crazy Asian, Honda isn't doing much better.

[EP3sAreFun]

Article is 48 hours old.

Toyota should also realize there are people that dont want hybrids and make cars for them too.

Supra an IS-F. How is a 4 door sedan a Supra?

Guess where the American car market is right now? its Economy cars. So thats where Toyota will continue to market to. i bet if everyone in the world starts buying sports cars then Toyota will make another affordable Sports car.

The IS-F is the new Supra in the sense that it is the current high-tech performance car in the Toyota lineup, never mind the fact that its sporting a Lexus badge

[Alan®]

The IS-F is the new Supra in the sense that it is the current high-tech performance car in the Toyota lineup, never mind the fact that its sporting a Lexus badge

Your logic is severly flawed

[Kaiser]

I wish people weren't so baited by hybrids. There are diesels in europe getting hybrid level fuel efficiency that have rock solid reliability ratings and are dirt cheap, plus they don't have the nasty environmental side effects of those massive batteries.

[HypnoToad]

the LF-A is toyota's sportscar........its been seen around the ring many times,im just ready to see it on the road.

[Complication]

the LF-A is toyota's sportscar........its been seen around the ring many times,im just ready to see it on the road.

First time I have seen that car out from the camo... and all I can say is AMAZING... :boobies:

[okra1981]

Do you know how many Accord are being brought back with issues and customer's actually selling them back because they have been fed up? Sorry but Honda's build quality is going down the drain for some odd reason. It's not the same as the 90's. I wish it was but when you buy a brand new car you'd expect the car to be quiet, not rattle, or squeak. Also, the 07-09 Toyota Camry's never got a consumer rating approval due to their V6 engine being shitty. Don't get me wrong, I drive a BMW for right now and that's not bad but seriously I want to try Hyundai. I've already test driven the sedan and that was amazing. And also for right now, I ain't rich. I wish but I'm not. And for $27,000 is my limit, this is a bargain for me. I'm not going back to used because f that. I don't want another used car only if it's for a project but I need a daily.

I never liked the V6 Camry, the four was always a much better engine. I hadn't heard anything about the new Accord issues with rattles, but it is brand new and you shouldn't expect anything to be perfect with the first year models. I seriously doubt that Honda's build quality is going down, issues with the one model aside, the Fit is an extraordinary car that has gotten rave reviews from everything I've read. Yeah, they don't make a rear drive car, other than the S2000, that will give them weaker performance against a car like the Genesis, after the kinks have been worked out, the Accord will no doubt be a wonderful car.
I'm sure the Genesis will be a fun car, I just wouldn't want to keep one for any time at all, resale would be the killing factor, unless it takes off and redesigns the whole brand. I'm not a baller though, I won't have a new car for another five years or so, realistically, then kids will come and it will be another five years (starts to sulk and imagine life in a minivan), maybe this is why I don't like Korean cars, the disposable cars are worthless by the time I can afford to get a hold of one.

As for the Top Gear segment being about tiny econoboxes. I don't see a reason in buying the first big step into a luxury sports coupe, when the whole basis behind your business model is selling a car that can be made for about $6k dollars and then shipped around the world and sold for double and pretending it's as good a quality as the $12k cars. But then again, I wouldn't have been the person buying the 240Z's back in the early 70's, for the exact same reasons.

Sorry for the thread jack, twice now. I happen to love the LF-A, it's a beautiful car and hate to see that Toyota is moving towards the bland world of Hybrids and away from the Supra and MR-2's of this world. I secretly want a Prius because I'm cheap, but it would give me the expendable income to build a first generation MR-2.
P.S.- I never said the Genesis was ugly or wouldn't be fast, but I think it's like checking out a really hot cousin, we're in GA, you guys know what I mean.

[EP3sAreFun]

Your logic is severly flawed

Supra was the current Toyota/Lexus Flagship high performance vehicle of its time.

IS-F is the Current Toyota/Lexus Flagship high performance vehicle.

How is my logic flawed? You keep waiting on a Supra, ok?

[Bruce Leroy]

Our current Hybrids are a waste... You spend more money for marginally better economy.

Cars like the chevy volt, or the fisker karma are what they should have been from the beginning.

[nreggie454]

Supra was the current Toyota/Lexus Flagship high performance vehicle of its time.

IS-F is the Current Toyota/Lexus Flagship high performance vehicle.

How is my logic flawed? You keep waiting on a Supra, ok?

Your logic is flawed because it is like saying a Mazdaspeed 6 is the new Rx-7 because it is a Mazda high performance vehicle. They have very different engines and body styles.

[EP3sAreFun]

Your logic is flawed because it is like saying a Mazdaspeed 6 is the new Rx-7 because it is a Mazda high performance vehicle. They have very different engines and body styles.

I guess this is just too complicated for some guys and i used too many big words.

There will not be another Supra, the IS-F is the closest thing you will see because it is also a high performance vehicle. Number of doors or type of motor don't matter. Understood?

[nreggie454]

I guess this is just too complicated for some guys and i used too many big words.

There will not be another Supra, the IS-F is the closest thing you will see because it is also a high performance vehicle. Number of doors or type of motor don't matter. Understood?

OK, I got it!

I will now refer to all new Chevy Tahoes as Hummer H2s since the Hummer brand is now dead and that is the closest thing I will see because it is also a GM SUV.

I understood where you were coming from the whole time, but I still disagree with your reasoning.